Documentary, Greece, 2016.

Vourvoura, a mountain village in Goethe’s Arcadia.
People lived in harmony with nature, relying solely on what they produced. A self-sufficient society, whose only connection to the "outside world" was the school. There, children learned to read and sang songs about the great homeland that made them proud.

After the war and the Nazi occupation—during which the village paid a heavy toll in blood—many emigrated. Some found themselves in Maroussi, a picturesque suburb of Athens that would undergo a violent transformation into the country’s financial hub and host the 2004 Olympic Games.

A showcase of national pride, built on consumer frenzy and excessive borrowing. The tragedy was inevitable: bankruptcy.
With no resources left, the village school was forced to close—after 150 years of operation. The flag that once waved proudly on school celebrations now lies forgotten in a drawer.

The journey of a few people, the journey of a nation.